Shoe.



T. w. MEREDITH.

SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 23. 1914.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

WITNESSES wwam T. W. MEREDITH.

SHOE- APPUCATION FILED JULTY23, I914.

Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

Z SHEETSSHEET Z- WITNESSES K/M Qu m ATTOEY.

THOMAS W. MEREDITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

I Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

Application filed July 23, 1914. Serial No. 852,545.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, THOMAS W. Mann DI'lI-I, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan of the city,county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to shoes having an elastic member in the upperthereof and particularly to shoes of the type that are constructed sothat the shoe can be placed on the foot without buttoning or lacing theshoe.

According to one phase of the invention, it particularly relates to highshoes that have the resemblance of a button shoe, having the exposedportion of the upper made of fabric in which there is woven elasticbands.

As showingcertain specific embodiments of the invention, reference ismade to the drawings forming a part of this specification and in whichdrawings,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of shoe. Fig. 2 is a plan viewof the shoe shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section taken through the upperof the shoe shown in Fig. 1 and is a view taken on the line 3-3 of saidFig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of another form of high shoe. Fig. 5 is a plan view of theshoe shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken through the upperof the shoe shown in Fig. 4 and is a view taken on the line 6-6 of saidFig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In Fig. 1, 1 represents the sole of the shoe, 2 represents the shank and3 represents the heel.

In the form of shoe shown in said Fig. 1, the inelastic flexible vamp orforward exposed member 4 is secured to the sole and to the shank of theshoe, while the counter covering or inelastic exposed rear member 5 isconnected to the heel and to the shank of the shoe. In the form shown inthis figure, however, the members 4 and 5 are not directly securedtogether but are separated by the portion 6.

For the sake of convenience the exposed portion of the shoe which is atthe right side 7 of the right shoe, is arbitrarily referred to as theoutside of the shoe, while the exposed portion at the left side 8 of thesame shoe is arbitrarily referred to as the inside of the shoe.Correspondingly the left side of the left shoe is referred to as the outside of the shoe, while the right side of the left shoe is referred toas the inside of the shoe.

The part 6 which extends downwardly between the vamp and the countercovering portion 5 is located on both the inside and the outside of theshoe, whereby there can be a uniform break along the shank which will beimparted to the material constituting the portion 6 of the upper part ofthe shoe, thus allowing the vamp 4 and the counter member 5 to remainsmooth when the shoe is on the foot.

The upper of the shoe shown in Figs. 1 to 3 comprises the elastic fabricouter part 9 and theelastic fabric inner part 10 that are securedtogether at the front and the rear by the inelastic connecting orbinding straps 11, 12, 13 and 14 which may be either of fabric orleather or of a combination of both.

The outer part 9 may be considered to comprise the main member 15 andthe fly or fly portion 16. In the form of shoe shown in Figs. 1 to 3,the fly is made a separate memher from the main member 15 and it can besecured in the desired position as by the stitching 17 which passesthrough the ornamental buttons 18 and the forward portion of the mainmember 15.. Due to this construction, the upper can be changed to fitthe particular wearer and when once the parts are secured together as inthe manner indicated, the two form. a comparatively continuous member,thus forming the outer part 9.

The elastic fabric of the fly or fly portion 16 is reinforced by aninelastic but flexible backing as leather 19 which prevents the fly fromstretching, in other words, a backing which kills or neutralizes theelastic effect of the fly portion thus reinforced, thus giving the flythe same uniform look when on the foot as when ofl, but at the same timeallowing all other parts of the elastic upper to conform to the ankle ofthe wearer. The top line or edge 20 of the upper is a selvage edge andthe elastic bands are woven in the fabric parallel to this selvage edge.With the exception of the binding straps 11 and 14 and the binding strap16 all of the exposed portion of the upper is an elastic fabric whichresembles an ordinary woven fabric. As the whole shoe upper, with theexception of the backed fly, is free to stretch to conform to the ankleof the wearer, nolining is provided within the shoe upper.

In the form of shoe illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6, the vamp and thecounter are provided in a continuous piece while the upper is securedthereto. The upper 1n the form shown in Flgs. 4 to 6 comprlses anelastic lnner The fly portion is reinforced or backed with a piece ofleather or other inelastic flexible material for its full width andlength, as in the case of the shoe shown in Fig. 1, whereby there willbe no stretching of the button fly. In other words the leather or otherinelastic flexible backing neutralizes the elastic eflect of the buttonfly portion.

In the form'of shoe shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and in the form shown in Figs.4 to 6, the button fly is' prevented from stretching and therefore it isnecessary to provide what would ordinarily appear to be an excess offabric material in the outside of the shoe and an insufficiency ofmaterial in the inside of the shoe. Thus, when the shoe is off the foot,and is in the position shown in Figs. 2 or 5, the forward seam of theshoe appears to be drawn inwardly, for instance toward the left of theright shoe, while the rear seam of the shoe appears to be centrallylocated at the rear of the shoe. This distorted appearance is allcorrected when the shoe is placed upon the foot. It will be noted thatthe elastic fabric constituting the upper parts of the shoe may be madeof any fabric mate rial such as is often now referred to as rubberizedvelvet, that stretches like goring, whereby the shoe can be pulled onand taken off similar to Congress shoes of former days. In high shoesthe buttons are preferably stitched to the fly, which in turn may bestitched directly to the quarter, or main member; see 15 of Fig. 1.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention.

WVhat Iclaim is:

1. A shoe having an upper formed of fabric with elastic woven therein,which upper comprises inner and outer members that are secured togetherat the front of the shoe and also at the rear of the shoe, the outermember comprising a main portion and a fly portion which togetherconstitute an integral member, said fly portion being backed on the sidenot exposed with a flexible inelastic portion for preventing said flyportion the upper being formed of fabric in which 165 there is wovenelastic so that the upper can conform to the ankle of the wearer, theupper comprising an exposed inner member and an exposed outer member,the outer exposed member comprising a main portion and a false flyportion which is integral with said main portion, said main portionbeing connected at the rear of the shoe to the inner member and said flyportion being connected at the front of the shoe to the inner member,said fly portion being provided with a flexible inelastic backing toneutralize the elastic effect of the portion thus backed.

3. A high shoe having the exposed portion of the inner and outer partsformed of fabric material with elastic woven therein whereby the shoecan be readily removed from the foot and whereby, when the shoe is inplace on the foot, the inner and outer parts will fit the ankle, therebeing a rear scam in said shoe at the junction of said inner and outerparts, which seam appears to be centrally located both when the shoe ison and off the foot of the wearer, and there being a front scam in saidshoe at the junction of said parts which last mentioned seam appears tobe drawn toward the inner side of the shoe when the latter is off thefoot, but which distorted appearance is corrected when the shoe is inplace on the foot, the outer part of said upper having secured to aportion thereof an inelastic flexible backing which neutralizes theelastic effect of the portion to which the backing is secured.

4. A shoe having a vamp and an upper, the upper being formed of fabricin which there is woven elastic so that the upper can conform to theankle of the wearer, the upper comprising an exposed inner member and anexposed outer member, which members are connected together at the rearand forward parts of the shoe, said outer exposed member comprising amain portion in which the elasticity has not been neutralized and a flyportion in which the elasticity has been neutralized, which main portionextends from the rear of the shoe to the fly portion and which flyportion extends from the front of the shoe to the said main portion,both of which portions are integral with each other.

This specification signed and witnessed this 22nd day of July, A. D.1914,.

THOMAS W. MEREDITH. Signed in the presence of DAVID BURR LUGKEY, MARTINJ. BEVANS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, 1). G.

